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Monday, March 26, 2012

Indie Chicks - Carol Luce

SELF-TAUGHT LATE BLOOMER

Carol
Davis Luce

My motto is, “If I can
do it, anyone can do it.” I wasn’t born to write. I didn’t aspire to be a
writer from the time I could hold a Crayon. I could, however, draw, and make
things take shape through form and color on paper and canvas, and that’s the
path I traveled well into midlife. The artist’s life opened up my eyes and mind
to expression and sometimes stories through composition on that blank eighteen
by twenty-four inch stretched canvas. Then one day it changed.

As a voracious reader, I was content
to read what others wrote. I admired those writers who had mastered the craft.
I was happy to dwell in their world for 300 pages, to laugh, cry, and be
enlightened and surprised. Until one day when I closed a book by my favorite
author and felt something was missing. The novel was a mystery/suspense with
elements of romance. The suspense was killer. The romance, however, was
lacking, missing those subtleties that resonated with me. I wanted more. The
promise of romance was there, but fizzled somewhere along the way. For me, it
wasn’t about graphic sex. It was about sexual tension, passion, love. After
searching unsuccessfully for novels to satisfy my romantic suspense fixation,
looking for just the right balance, I realized I had to write the book myself.

Only I knew nothing about writing a
novel, let alone a genre book with a sub-genre. So I went to the library and
checked out a reference book titled, HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL. Easy enough, right?
If dedication is easy, then it was easy because I was driven. My artist’s
passion shifted to focus on the writer’s canvas. That canvas was structure,
words, emotion, and truth. And the rest is history.

Well,
almost.

I
burned up two electric typewriters before investing in a computer. I checked
out every book on the “book writing” reference shelf, and many grammar and
stylebooks, and two years later, my 800-page opus, NIGHT STALKER, was finished—

Almost.

I
learned about the important shaping process, without which most stories would
be unreadable. Editing. The passion and pain of cutting and revising. Finding
the jewels that lie buried in too many, or misguided, words. Three years and a
dozen revisions later, 400 pages lighter, it found a home with a traditional
publisher. Within the first few months of release, it went into three printings
and became the flagship for the sub-genre "Woman in Jeopardy/Romantic
Suspense" at Kensington Publishing.

Where it started. . .

I
left school at sixteen to marry my high school sweetheart. Six years later, as
a housewife and mother, I channeled my artistic talent into sketching and
painting, selling my work at a local art gallery. A quarter century later, I
traded in my paints and brushes to hit the keyboard. Our three sons, not much
for novel reading, are waiting for my books to be made into movies. That
childhood sweetheart I married a lifetime ago is now my soul mate of 50 plus
years. His encouragement fueled me, and his support allowed me to pursue my
goals.

Going back to my motto of, “if I can
do it, anyone can.” There has never been a more opportunistic time to try your
hand at writing a book. Or taking the plunge and self-publishing. My decision
to self-publish my upcoming suspense novels came about when I hit the
proverbial brick wall after five published books. With a stalled career, I had
a choice. Teach, or see my stories in print again. I chose the latter. My first
self-published book is the short story trilogy, BROKEN JUSTICE, followed by my
suspense novel, NIGHT WIDOW.

Agents
and editors think they know what readers want. They don’t always know. Readers know what readers want, and
they’re expressing their wants by buying books written by indie authors. Give
yourself a hardy pat on the back if you’ve completed a manuscript, but the big
applause goes to our devoted fans and readers. Without them, we would be
nothing.